Jerry Bellamy went to Springfield Police HQ to dispute parking ticket; was grabbed by throat, tackled by officers in confrontation

On June 29, 2017, property maintenance worker Jerry Bellamy walked into the lobby of Springfield Police headquarters. He was there to file a complaint.

What he got, he said in an interview, was grabbed by the throat, shoved out the door, tackled and falsely charged with assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.

“I did nothing that warranted that type of response from that officer,” Bellamy, 48, said.

And parts of his account are backed up by surveillance video obtained by MassLive, which shows desk officer Jefferson Petrie quickly emerge from behind his security window and put his hands around Bellamy’s neck, as Bellamy does not appear to resist or hit back.

After Bellamy is shoved outside, the video shows him raise his arms and square off with Petrie and other officers who came rushing to the scene. Bellamy is seen struggling as officers take him to the ground on a patch of grass outside the police station.

But the video does not show him throwing any punches – a key claim in Petrie’s police report, which justifies Bellamy’s arrest and the use of force against him. And both Petrie’s report and an internal affairs investigation appear to soft-pedal the officer’s initial response, describing his first shove of Bellamy as an attempt to “guide” him toward the door.

The video also contradicts other parts of Petrie’s police report on the incident, which accuses Bellamy of throwing a parking ticket through the slot in the desk window and pushing up against him. No evidence of these claims exists in the footage.

In a statement, the Springfield Police Department disputed Bellamy’s account and the interpretation of the video by MassLive and two independent experts interviewed for this story.

“Officers can escort verbally or physically assaultive individuals from the lobby for the safety of other civilians. In this case, the individual was given numerous chances to walk away and was not arrested until he threw a punch," Springfield Police spokesman Ryan Walsh said in the statement. "The individual also refused any medical attention.”

Charges against Bellamy were swiftly dropped after his attorney obtained the video from the police department and shared it with prosecutors. But his arrest cost him his property maintenance job and caused hardship for himself and his children, he said in an interview.

Former New York Police Department sergeant Brian Rizzo, now an associate professor of criminal justice at Westfield State University, said that what can appear to be excessive force to a layperson watching video of a police encounter is often legally allowed.

While a civilian may cringe watching an officer hit a suspect lying on the ground, police are allowed to escalate to one level of force above what is being used against them, Rizzo said – including using controlled but painful strikes to control someone who is resisting being handcuffed. And uses of force are judged from the standpoint of a reasonable officer making an in-the-moment decision, rather than someone watching a video with 20/20 hindsight, Rizzo said.

But after reviewing the video, arrest report and internal investigation report of Bellamy’s encounter, Rizzo told MassLive that Petrie appears to have significantly overreacted – and then filed an inaccurate police report to justify his actions.

“Once outside the actions observed on the video and Officer Petrie’s actual account of the incident do not jibe, and do not appear to be an accurate and honest depiction of events as they unfolded, but instead reflect a subculture in the SPD which is indicative and reminiscent of the 1960s where every instance of standing up for oneself, defending oneself from being struck, and simply trying to maintain one’s dignity even as one is being physically accosted is interpreted by the police as being a case of ‘contempt of cop,’ “ Rizzo wrote in an email.

“Thus, in my opinion, with what I can see on the video, and what is entered in an official department record, I strongly believe there are many inconsistencies,” Rizzo continued. “I do believe Mr. Bellamy’s reported statements are probably the most accurate in the entire report. I hesitate to find any credence in how the event is depicted.”

Police Commissioner John Barbieri said that the video did not fully capture the altercation, and noted that prosecutors’ decision to drop charges does mean that an arrest was invalid.

“The video of the police lobby and exterior of the building are helpful but do not show the complete interaction. An independent witness also corroborated the officers account that the individual swung at officers and resisted arrest. Camera perspective and inanimate stationary objects interfere with an accurate and complete view," Barbieri said in a statement. “The department is moving forward with the implementation of body-worn cameras that will provide the officer’s perspective and a more accurate accounting of police/citizen encounters.”

On June 29, 2017, Bellamy was cited for parking in a fire lane, according to the internal investigation into the altercation. Bellamy, who disputed the ticket, drove over to the department’s Pearl Street headquarters and walked into the lobby, saying he wanted to speak to a police supervisor.

Petrie, the officer at the front desk, refused to call a sergeant, asking Bellamy instead to tell him what the issue was. Both Bellamy and Petrie agree that Bellamy continued to demand that a supervisor hear his complaint and swore at Petrie, saying he was being targeted by police.

At this point, however, the two accounts diverge.

Petrie wrote in his arrest report that Bellamy “threw a parking ticket through the pass-through in the window,” prompting him to retrieve the ticket and enter the lobby area.

“I approached Mr. Bellamy who turned his body to me and said ‘What? What?” Petrie wrote. “At that time I perceived this as some sort of challenge and felt that this situation was not going to remain amicable.”

Petrie wrote that he told Bellamy to leave, and “placed a hand on him to guide him toward the door when he pushed up against me.”

Bellamy – and the video footage, which lacks audio – tell a different story.

Security footage of the lobby does not show any evidence of Bellamy throwing an object through the front desk window. In another camera angle, Bellamy can be seen holding a red or orange envelope in his right hand as he is pushed out of the front doors. Springfield parking citations are issued in orange envelopes when handed out by police officers.

And what Petrie calls a guiding hand appears to be a forceful shove, causing Bellamy to stumble.

“We were face-to-face and he closed in on me,” Petrie’s report continues. “I grabbed him by the face area and pushed him away intending to prevent any assault and remove him from the building. Mr. Bellamy reluctantly walked to the exit with my assistance.”

While Bellamy leans his body toward the officer after catching his balance, he does not close any distance toward Petrie before being grabbed around the throat and sent out the door, according to the video footage.

Footage of the police department entrance shows Bellamy raise his right arm and place it on Petrie’s shoulder as he is pushed out the door. Petrie responds with another shove, as other officers rush outside to back him up.

“Mr. Bellamy then tensed up, clenched his fists and stepped toward me. I pushed him away and he returned toward me again. He pushed at me with his hands and swung his fists at me,” Petrie wrote in his report.

In an interview, Bellamy said he never threw any punches and only put his hands up to deflect blows and create distance between himself and Petrie.

Bellamy has had legal trouble before. He pleaded guilty to violating an abuse prevention order in 2014. And a case against him for an altercation with his neighbors was recently resolved, with Bellamy receiving a year of probation. Bellamy pleaded guilty to a count of assault and battery three other charges -- assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a pregnant victim and breaking and entering -- were continued without a finding.

But he said he had never met Petrie before and had no personal history with him.

Until this point, Bellamy was not under arrest, according to Petrie’s report. After the alleged punches, Petrie attempted to take him into custody, his report said.

The security footage shows Bellamy square off with Petrie as they exit the department, using his arms to block Petrie’s attempts to grab him. But he never steps toward the officer or swings his fists, and can be seen back stepping until he is tackled on a strip of grass near the road.

After his arrest, Bellamy alleged that he had been punched by Petrie as he was forced outside and subjected to excessive force after being taken to the ground. He also said that he was carrying about $750 in his hand when he entered the station from a paycheck he had just cashed, but that his money fell during the altercation and was not returned to him.

The video footage reviewed by MassLive does not substantiate those allegations, as no money is visible and the struggle to handcuff Bellamy as he lay on the ground was filmed from a distance. Petrie and Bellamy are partially obscured when the alleged punches are thrown, and it is not clear whether the officer is shoving Bellamy or swinging a closed fist.

Petrie and all of the officers who responded to assist him told internal investigators that Bellamy was arrested after being combative and denied Bellamy’s claims that an officer put a thumb in his eye and kicked him in the groin.

Springfield police launched an internal investigation into Bellamy’s claims, but the complaint was not sustained after a hearing by Springfield’s Community Police Hearing Board.

“Only necessary force was used to safely effect Mr. Bellamy’s arrest,” Petrie wrote in his report to internal investigators.

In his arrest report, Petrie said that a witness who saw Bellamy’s arrest came forward and said he saw Bellamy “swing at officers and resist arrest.” That witness was interviewed again by internal investigators and told them that Bellamy “had his hands up as if he were going to fight with the officer” – but did not say that he saw Bellamy swing his fists.

Experts dispute police report

Petrie’s account of his encounter with Bellamy is riddled with inaccuracies, according to two criminal justice experts who reviewed the police reports and footage at MassLive’s request.

Rizzo, the Westfield State criminal justice associate professor and former NYPD sergeant, and New England School of Law Professor David Siegel both said the video contradicted elements of Petrie’s report.

“Just from what you can see, the African-American guy does not appear to be threatening or assaultive in any way. His hands seem to be, as far as I can tell mostly raised or at his side. He seems to be backing away,” Siegel said in an interview. “There’s one point where he seems to be pushed back and stops and stands there, but he doesn’t run toward him or swing at him.”

Both said the video shows that Bellamy does not swing at any officers and did not throw his ticket through the front desk window. In a statement, Rizzo “strongly questioned” a number of the statements in Petrie’s report, including that Bellamy “pushed up against” and “closed in on” or “tensed up, clenched his fist, and stepped toward” Petrie.

Rizzo also took issue with Petrie’s description of grabbing Bellamy “by the face area,” saying the video appears to show him grabbing Bellamy by the neck.

“Officer Petrie probably could have achieved his intention of removing Mr. Bellamy from the lobby without resorting to placing his hands around Mr. Bellamy’s throat,” Rizzo wrote. “Taking Mr. Bellamy by the arm and escorting him out may have been sufficient. This appears to be an entirely unwarranted, inappropriate, and unnecessary action as Mr. Bellamy does not appear to be taking any offensive action toward Officer Petrie.”

Rizzo noted that police have the right to use force to effect arrests, and can legally escalate to limited types of physical force if they reasonably believe they are at risk of physical harm – even if a subject has not yet been violent. Use of force guidelines typically allow officers to use “contact controls” – escort positions, takedowns, handcuffs and wristlocks – on people who are passively resisting police commands.

But Rizzo said that officers should try to avoid escalating situations into violence when subjected to swearing or insults. And he noted that officers are acutely aware of the legal justifications for force, and sometimes write reports using those terms – tensed bodies, clenched fists, combative stances -- to make unneeded force appear reasonable.

“There is a term ‘contempt of cop’ which refers to an individual’s actions that are perceived as disrespectful to the officer, which in some instances may cause an officers to act unprofessionally by deploying unnecessary force, or any amount of force which is used that is not necessary, or serves a legitimate purpose,” Rizzo wrote. “In these instances it is common to legitimize his or her actions by effecting an arrest, and, subsequently, prepare supporting documentation which provides a narrative with language taken verbatim from case law to provide cover that the force used was 'reasonable,' and the arrest made, legitimate.”

Siegel said Petrie appears to have escalated the situation by his actions and that prosecutors’ decision to drop the assault and battery charges against Bellamy after viewing the video is an indication that the encounter was handled imperfectly.

“The use of force by officers who outnumbered an unarmed individual four to one, when there’s no underlying crime, should be a real red flag for management,” Siegel said. “And it should be an even bigger red flag when the third party assessment by the prosecutor was not only was there no underlying crime, there was not a prosecutable crime on the part of the defendant.”